It began innocently enough, I suppose. Joshua was a nice young man, from a good home halfway across the country. He was the first of his family to attend college. While he excelled in the classroom, the adjustment to college life sometimes left him struggling to make sense of his place in a world far removed from the simple, straightforward environment of his rural Virginia roots.
It was shortly into his second semester that he came to my office after class and peeked his head around the corner of the open door. His tightly curled mop gave him a unique look that I caught in my peripheral vision. "Come on in Josh," I said without looking up as I continued grading a rather unimpressive research piece on the explosion of consumer technology.
"Mind if I close the door, Dr. C?"
The tone of his voice got my attention immediately. His normally bright, go-get-em timbre was absent, replaced with a reserved and almost melancholy tone; melodic and beautiful, but sad.
"Of course, Josh, I'm sorry. Please have a seat. What's eating at you?"
"I miss home, Dr. C. I miss home bad. I miss mom's cookin' and working in the yard with my dad." Josh pulled up the chair and sat at the corner of my desk, leaning in and clasping his hands together on the worn, water-stained oak desktop.
"I miss my little sister being a pain in my ass. I miss Sunday dinner with the family around the table for hours, talking about everything. I thought it was the most boring thing in the world when I had it, and now....now I just want to go home.
Don't get me wrong, I'm loving college as far as classes and stuff. I'm excited about what I'm learning, but I go back to the dorm at night and it's just...it's just lonely. I have friends, we go do stuff. It's fun sometimes, but it's not home. It's not people I'm close to, not people I want to be close to.
You're the closest thing I have to someone who cares about me like my family does, Dr. C. It's not your job to make my college life, good, but...." Josh sighed heavily and his damp eyes met mine. I smiled and reached out to grip his forearms with both of my hands, squeezing supportively.
"You'll get through this, Josh. It sounds like you have the kind of home life that most folks today never get to experience. Your pain is the sweet pain of intimacy removed. Being surrounded by people who will always be honest with you and trust you is a precious thing. You're going to have a chance to build that for your children someday, using your degree to provide for them. Hang in there. Use this struggle to find who you are without that comfort of family."
I leaned back and studied him a bit. He was a handsome young man with almost a Mediterranean look about him. His skin was a light olive complexion, and his dark, tight curls framed his face, almost making his intense green eyes appear to be peering out from under a fur hood.
"I tell you what, Josh. Come see me tomorrow. I have an idea I want to run by someone that I think might help. Deal?"
"Deal!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, pulling his arms back to take my hands in his own and squeeze them in unstated thanks. He jumped up, his eyes shining with that unique light of hope through the residue of sadness.
"Dr. C?" he asked as he passed out through the doorway. I was still looking at him, smiling.
"Yes Josh?"
"Thanks, for listening. Even if your idea doesn't pan out, it helps just to talk to someone who gives a damn." Now it was my turn for my tear ducts to produce. I simply nodded with a warm smile and met his gaze briefly before turning back to my papers.
"Damn, I do love my job some days," as I turned my eyes back to grading.
The idea was to create an after church Sunday dinner atmosphere for Josh, and Molly had outdone herself: our best china on the table, cloth napkins, roast beef with rich brown gravy, and country style mashed potatoes. Though he was a year or two shy of 21, I broke the rules a bit and brought out a growler of my own stout beer to balance out the flavors.
Josh wore his Sunday best, a simple olive cotton button down that picked up the color of his eyes, tan slacks, and loafers that had seen their fair share of Sundays. I wore one of my better suits and my favorite tie.
Molly outdid us all. The sable fabric of her dress caressed her 27 year old frame with an elegant shimmer. She was the image of a woman who understood and appreciated the beauty of her own body. The pearls I had given her on our anniversary draped into her dΓ©colletage in three cascading loops, echoing the curve of the fabric from lovely shoulders to just the barest hint of cleavage. Her hips echoed the same curve against the fabric, pulling it a caress of her stomach that bore yet another oh-so-subtle curve, proclaiming her femininity in the most alluring of ways.
It was no wonder Josh's eyes grew big as saucers when he answered the door. Molly wasn't trying to be sexy, she was trying to be maternal and protective, but there's no denying the sensuality of a woman that knows and loves herself.
Dinner was a wonderful, three hour affair. Josh's eyes started to glimmer once again, and I sat back and watched with joy as he bonded with Molly. I got to see a humorous side of his personality that never shows up in class, and he had Molly in stiches through most of desert. My smile went from ear to ear as two important parts of my world came together in a way that helped to heal the loneliness Josh had been feeling.
Josh left early to study and, as we loaded the last of the dishes into the racks of the dishwasher, I caught her hand, licking a dollop of gravy from her thumb, and pulled her to me. My hands slid down her sides and onto her hips as her arms slid around my frame. "Thank you, lover. That was a perfect gift for Josh." I kissed her deeply as I pulled her to me, her curves fitting against me in a way that made the gravy seem bland.
She returned my thanks with an eager tongue, then slipped her left hand into my right and let me toward the bedroom with a playful grin that only meant good things to come. Her hand slipped from mine and to her hips....slowly teasing the fabric of her dress up as she walked. I watched the hem work from the middle of her toned thighs to cup the cleft of her ass just as she turned the corner into our bedroom. The dress wasn't the only thing rising quickly.
I entered the room to find her leaning back against the post of the bed.....beckoning with her finger. Just a hint of red silk between her thighs displayed the curve of her lips and yet again, her choice of clothing radiated her sensuality.
"I took excellent care of Josh for you today, honey, now it's your turn". She grabbed my tie and tugged down with a wicked grin, as she raised her left leg, spreading it and hooked a heel into the bedframe. My hands reached for her right calf as I planted gentle kisses on the inside of her left knee. Fingers fluttered slowly up her leg as my lips worked their way to her center slowly, leaving a trail of blushing, damp, circles on her skin as I gently nibbled my way up her smooth inner thigh.
She moaned softly as my lips reached fingertips slid up her right let...brushing the edge of the red satin. My fingertips felt the heat radiating from her intensely and I broke my concentration on her thigh to look at her presented sex.
"My god honey", I exclaimed. Her labia were engorged, stretching the satin, which was dark and wet with her arousal.
From my position at her feet, I looked up at my gorgeous wife. Her right arm was extended above her head, wrapped around the wooden bedpost. During my attentions to her leg she had freed her shoulders and 34C breasts from the top of her dress and the fingers of her left hand were attending to her nipples...pinching....twisting....flicking. She looked down at me with fire in her eyes and moved her hand to the back of my head. She hissed "I said...it's your turn" and pressed my face roughly into the red, wet strip of fabric.
In our five years of marriage, I'd never experienced Molly taking such an aggressive role in the bedroom, nor had I ever seen her arousal be so physically evident.